Marlowe came home on a Tuesday. She was nine weeks old, just over four pounds, and she walked into our house like she'd been there before. Sniffed the mat. Looked up at both kids. Fell asleep on the kitchen floor within twenty minutes.
It would have been easy to take that calm and run with it. Start crate training immediately. Get a head start on commands. Every puppy guide says the first week is critical. And it is. But not for the reasons they think.
Trust before training
The first week isn't about teaching a puppy to sit. It's about teaching them that you're safe. That this new place is safe. That the sounds, the smells, the small humans running through the living room at 7 AM are all things they can handle.
A puppy who doesn't feel safe can't learn. They might comply. They might freeze and look like they're being “good.” But compliance under stress isn't learning. It's survival.
So we didn't train Marlowe that first week. We just existed with her.
What we actually did
We kept things small. Same room for the first two days. Pen set up in the kitchen with a bed, water, and one chew toy. We didn't introduce the whole house. We didn't invite people over. We didn't take her to the park.
- Sleep was the priority. Puppies at nine weeks need 18 to 20 hours of sleep a day. We enforced naps every hour. One hour up, two hours down. No exceptions.
- The crate was introduced, not forced.Door open. Treats inside. She went in on her own by day three. We didn't close the door until day five.
- Kids had clear rules. No picking up the puppy. No chasing. If Marlowe walked away, she was done. The kids understood this because we explained it before she arrived.
- We stayed boring. No overstimulation. No high-pitched voices. Just steady, quiet, present.
Sleep foundations
Rebecca's background in paediatrics made this easier. She'd already spent years watching what happens when babies don't sleep enough. The same principles apply. An overtired puppy doesn't misbehave. They dysregulate. The biting, the zoomies, the inability to settle. These aren't training problems. They're fatigue.
We used a simple pattern: one hour awake, two hours in the crate. During awake time, Marlowe had access to us, a couple of toys, and the kitchen. During nap time, the crate was covered and the house went quiet.
By the end of the first week, she was sleeping through from 10 PM to 6 AM. Not because we “sleep trained” her. Because she was rested enough to regulate.
The environment matters more than the method
Most puppy advice focuses on what you do. We focused on what the environment does. A calm environment produces a calm puppy. A chaotic environment produces a chaotic puppy. Before we worried about a single command, we made sure the space itself was set up for success.
Low stimulation. Predictable routine. Safe places to rest. Access to calm adults. That was the first week. And honestly, it set the tone for everything that followed.
What I'd tell you
If you're in your first week with a new puppy, resist the urge to do everything at once. The internet will make you feel behind. You're not. Your only job right now is to make your puppy feel safe. Everything else can wait.
Sleep. Calm. Safety. That's the first week. That's the foundation everything else gets built on.
Stay close
Weekly notes on raising Marlowe. First access when the course launches.